Fender Unveils New Mustang Bass Model
Fender has reimagined some of their classic models to create the new Offset lineup of instruments. “We took timeless designs with an asymmetrically offset waist, added new pickups for heavyweight tone, updated the neck profile and splashed bold colors on these scrappy flyweights,” the company writes. The series includes a new take on the Mustang with the Mustang Bass PJ....
Marco Panascia Teams with Dario Deidda for “Bass Duo Live” Album
Marco Panascia, an Italian-born bassist living in New York City for more than a decade, has recently released his debut album Bass Duo Live, featuring fellow bassist Dario Deidda. The album is compiled from a live bass duo performance in Italy in which Panascia plays upright with Deidda on electric. The new Bandcamp re-release contains all of the jazz standards...
G&L Introduces the Kiloton Bass
G&L has combined one of their flagship models with one of their flagship pickups to create the Kiloton bass. The Kiloton features the body of their SB-2 fitted with a Magnetic Field Design bass humbucker for an instrument they say has “explosive power.” Besides volume and tone knobs, its pickup is controlled with a 3-way mini-switch to toggle between series,...
Timothy Perkins: The Lonely Man Theme
Timothy Perkins sent us this cool video for “The Lonely Man Theme”, and it’s impressive. The bassist brings it all to the table for the high and lonesome melody, including his five-string, his double bass, and a fretless. The playing is fantastic and the song itself will get stuck in your head.
Iron Ether Introduces Divaricator Bass Pedal
Effects pedal company Iron Ether Electronics has announced the Divaricator, a crossover and exciter pedal for bass that they call a “tone toolbox” for bassists. The pedal, which also includes an effects loop, splits your signal up to process it. “Using its 4th-order variable crossover, the pedal splits a signal into high and low frequency bands, and processes the high...
Source Audio Now Shipping the Soleman MIDI Foot Controller
Source Audio has introduced the Soleman MIDI Foot Controller, a device they call a highly configurable hardware and software MIDI controller packaged in a sleek, durable housing. The pedal is fitted with two 5-pin MIDI DIN outputs, a USB port, four programmable footswitches, an expression input, a tap tempo switch and a high-contrast LCD display. It also has complementary editing...
Like An Arrow: An Interview with Richard Turner
Blackberry Smoke is often hailed as the triumphant return of true Southern Rock, and maybe rightfully so. The five-piece, Atlanta-based band brings all the right flavors with authenticity and a penchant for writing memorable hooks, but they aren’t pigeonholed into one style. They have wide influences that seem to inform their powerful songs in unique ways. That idea is especially...
Gregory Porter: Holding On, Live In Berlin
I’m a big Gregory Porter fan, so I was excited to hear he has a new coming out in November. The jazz vocalist is once again joined by bassist Jahmal Nichols, who plays beautifully crafted lines to perfection. This clip of “Holding On” is a great example with the bassist sitting just right in the pocket for most of the...
In Memoriam: Tim Cloonan
Sad news to report today: bass builder Tim Cloonan has passed away. The Philadelphia-based luthier owned and operated Callowhill Guitars, creating basses for some of the world’s top players including Tim Lefebvre, Dywane “Mononeon” Thomas, Owen Biddle, Derrick Hodge, Steve Jenkins, and more. Cloonan was a guitar player that saw the need for better bass care. “I’m a guitar player...
The Rolling Stones: Miss You
Ever since a new Darryl Jones documentary was announced, I’ve been listening to lots of the bassist’s work on YouTube. Here’s a great extended take of “Miss You” taken from 1995, just two years after he joined the Rolling Stones. Jones carries the groove throughout with rock solid time and feel while Mick Jagger gets into his stage antics.
Bass of the Week: Versoul Swan 8
It’s not often you see an 8-string fretless, but this one takes the cake. This week we’re checking out the Swan 8 by Finland’s Versoul, which the company describes as having traditional looks with an innovative body construction. “Solid Finnish Aspen flat top on solid Alder sides, a flat back and the long scale neck (34″) create an exceptionally mature...
Eden Unveils the Astroflange Bass Flanger
Eden Amplification has expanded their pedal lineup with the Astroflange, a flanger designed specifically for bass. It has four controls that allow for dialing in the effect and choosing which frequencies are affected. “Velocity and Altitude controls adjust the overall parameters of the flanging effect, while the Low Cut control allows you to fully control where in the frequency band...